Author: Frank, PANews
 

Solana’s latest Blink feature has set the crypto world on fire.

This latest feature can convert on-chain operations such as transactions, voting, payments, and coin minting into a shareable link or QR code, allowing users to complete the above on-chain operations directly on Twitter without jumping to other pages. Once this feature was announced, it was called the most Web3 application, and it may open a bridge between the Web2 and Web3 worlds. Can the Blink function really take on the heavy responsibility? Or is it just another fancy little plug-in?

Twitter is a one-click tool to fight against local dogs

The Blink function is just a plug-in page visible to the user. Another protocol bundled with it, Actions, achieves this product effect. The official introduction says: Actions is a protocol for creating and transmitting Solana transactions through URLs, allowing Solana to share Blinks or blockchain links anywhere, detect action URLs and expand them into a full experience client.

To put it simply, developers use the Actions protocol to create a link for the on-chain operations they want to share, and the page function that the user can interact with is called Blink.

This feature was developed by Dialect labs. Dialect labs previously developed Dialect, a protocol that specializes in messaging through smart contracts. In 2022, Dialect labs completed a $4.1 million seed round of financing, led by Multicoin Capital and Jump Capital. Currently, this feature is available on Twitter. Phantom and Backpack wallets can directly call and interact with Blink programs.

However, in terms of operation, users need to turn on the Twitter-related application button in the wallet settings before they can see this link. The biggest highlight of this protocol is that it saves developers a lot of development process. They only need to create a recognizable link and it can be applied to various web pages.

This logic is somewhat similar to the QR code of Web2, except that the QR code converts a web page into a QR code, and Blink converts an on-chain operation into a front-end page.

Developers no longer need to develop for each adapted page or call Jupiter-like API separately. One link is applicable to all pages. For users, in the future, when they see a Solana Golden Dog project on Twitter, they don’t need to copy the token address and then open the exchange or robot to interact. The transaction process can be completed directly in one interface, which speeds up the efficiency of flushing the Earth Dog.

In addition, it has become more convenient for some activities that require on-chain voting. Or some artists can directly forward the link on social media such as Twitter to sell NFT or other tokens with one click. According to Solana's official demonstration, more social media applications or websites may be supported in the future. This includes creating Blink as a QR code to achieve more convenient mobile payment scenarios.

Omnipotent or simply upgradeable?

It seems that the changes brought about by Blink are huge, but many crypto users also believe that Blink still has huge flaws and will eventually be short-lived.

The main reason for this is to explore the basic product logic of Blink. As a Web3 application, Blink cannot avoid Chrome plug-ins and wallets. In essence, the implementation of Blink's functions depends on a protocol built into Phantom and Backpack, which is used to identify whether the Actions protocol exists on the web page. Only recognizable links can be displayed as a Blink card. If the browser or application selected by the user does not support the wallet application plug-in, the Blink application cannot be recognized. From this point of view, Blink's capabilities are more like improving the application experience of Web3 rather than directly connecting to the Web2 client.

In addition, Dan Romero, the founder of Farcaster, commented, "They don't work on mobile phones. 88% of Twitter usage is mobile." Some netizens refuted Dan Romero, saying that the Solana ecosystem also has its own Web3 mobile phone.

Another topic that has been discussed a lot on social media is security. Many users are worried that once such an application protocol is used by phishers or the Rug team, it will become another channel for users to fall into traps. Dialect seems to have also considered this issue. The current rules show that only registered project teams can create such links.

However, according to PANews' investigation, the current registration rules are also very simple, and there are no strict restrictions. Interestingly, the registered domain name does not seem to have been renewed at present, and when it is opened, it shows that the domain name is for sale.

According to official documents, after some malicious projects are reported or discovered, the community will need to mark the malicious behavior and make a reminder on the page. However, this manual marking mechanism may only be a last resort.

An imaginative attempt

In addition, many users discussed on social media that Blink at least provides a more reliable solution in terms of token distribution rewards (which is good news for KOLs), or if it is embedded in Web3 mobile phones, it can also become a relatively prominent advantage of Web3 mobile phones.

It is worth mentioning that as early as 2022, Dialect reached a cooperation with Solana Web3 mobile phone Saga to launch the open source chat application Dial. Therefore, it is highly likely that the Blink function will be embedded in the Solana Web3 mobile phone.

Regardless of whether the Blink function can truly become a killer application, from the current beginning, it is an important attempt to expand Web3 applications. Blink has been launched, and Solana officials have also worked hard to participate in the popularization of this application. Several important projects in the Solana ecosystem, such as Jupiter, Phantom, and Backpack, have also integrated this function as soon as possible.

At least from the perspective of the unified action of the ecosystem, the importance of Blink in Solana is self-evident. A Twitter user @fjun99 complained when discussing Blink: "The Ethereum ecosystem really needs to work harder. It is equivalent to building countless buildings, but even the lobby is not decorated." As the user said, focusing on user experience may be the focus of the public chain at present.